Ramirez had another remarkable season at the plate, hitting .308 with a league-leading 43 home runs and 130 RBIs, including seven homers against the Yankees alone. And to think he had to return to a team that spent a good part of last winter openly trying to dump him. When the Rodriguez trade fell through, Boston had no choice but to try to soothe over Ramirez's hurt feelings.

"It wasn't that bad for me," Ramirez said. "You know why? Because I said to myself, `Well, I'm going to leave everything to God. If God wants me come back to Boston, it's for a reason.' So I'm here."

Despite his consistent productivity, Ramirez was seen as a dubious presence in Boston in 2003, when he was frequently the subject of controversy. It came to a head when he missed a Red Sox-Yankees game with a sore throat but was spotted later that night in a restaurant bar with the Yankees' Enrique Wilson, a former teammate. It took Ramirez quite a while to live that one down.

Ramirez survived the season, then survived an off-season of uncertainty when he was first put on waivers halfway into a six-year, $120 million deal, then used as trade bait for Rodriguez. He insists he was never bitter.

"No, it's a business," he said. "Sometimes they make mistakes and you've got to move on, and that's what I did. I said, `I'm going back to Boston and have a good season and prove everybody wrong.' I'm just blessed to be here."

Foulke knows what it's like to feel unwanted, after a painful ending to his White Sox career. He lost his closer's job with the White Sox on June 8, 2002, after serving up a game-winning home run to Montreal's Vladimir Guerrero in a 2-1 loss at Comiskey Park.

Uncertainty over Foulke's ability to handle pressure was one of the reasons the White Sox got rid of him, trading him to Oakland after 2002 in a six-player deal that brought in the forgettable Billy Koch. Foulke saved 32 games this year and helped the Red Sox put down Anaheim in Game 3 of the AL Division Series on Friday, striking out Garret Anderson and Troy Glaus with the bases loaded to squelch an eighth-inning threat in a tie game. Though he had seven blown saves, the Red Sox came back to win five of those games.

But Foulke is now in the biggest pressure-cooker of them all: Red Sox-Yankees, Armageddon Part II. No one wants to be "Buckner-ized" in Boston for a spectacular postseason flop, and he understands the closer is always in a do-or-die situation.

"I don't put that pressure on myself," Foulke said. "I came to Boston with the idea of helping this team get to the promised land. I go out and try and do my job, but I've still got to remain focused. It doesn't matter if it's July 2 or October 2, I've got to go out there and do my job for us to win."

Foulke's six years in Chicago included the memorable 2000 season when he replaced Bobby Howry as the closer and the White Sox cruised to the division title. He was popular but relatively low-key during his stay, never becoming a household name.

In Boston these days, Foulke's name is on everyone's mind.

"The core fans we had on the South Side were great fans," Foulke said. "But this whole city is `core' fans. They sold out every game this year. You can't walk down the street one time without people asking you `What're you doing,' and `How you doing?' They just want to talk baseball. This town revolves around the Red Sox, and that's one of the reasons why I came here."